The
XrmGetFileDatabase function opens the specified file, creates a new resource
database, and loads it with the specifications read in from the specified
file. The specified file should contain a sequence of entries in valid ResourceLine
format (see section 15.1); the database that results from reading a file
with incorrect syntax is implementation-dependent. The file is parsed in
the current locale, and the database is created in the current locale.
If it cannot open the specified file, XrmGetFileDatabase returns NULL.

The XrmPutFileDatabase function stores a copy of the specified database
in the specified file. Text is written to the file as a sequence of entries
in valid ResourceLine format (see section 15.1). The file is written in the
locale of the database. Entries containing resource names that are not in
the Host Portable Character Encoding or containing values that are not
in the encoding of the database locale, are written in an implementation-dependent
manner. The order in which entries are written is implementation-dependent.
Entries with representation types other than ``String'' are ignored.

The XrmGetStringDatabase
function creates a new database and stores the resources specified in
the specified null-terminated string. XrmGetStringDatabase is similar to
XrmGetFileDatabase except that it reads the information out of a string
instead of out of a file. The string should contain a sequence of entries
in valid ResourceLine format (see section 15.1) terminated by a null character;
the database that results from using a string with incorrect syntax is
implementation-dependent. The string is parsed in the current locale, and
the database is created in the current locale.

If database is NULL, XrmDestroyDatabase
returns immediately.

The XrmLocaleOfDatabase function returns the name
of the locale bound to the specified database, as a null-terminated string.
The returned locale name string is owned by Xlib and should not be modified
or freed by the client. Xlib is not permitted to free the string until the
database is destroyed. Until the string is freed, it will not be modified
by Xlib.

The XrmGetDatabase function returns the database associated with
the specified display. It returns NULL if a database has not yet been set.

The XrmSetDatabase function associates the specified resource database
(or NULL) with the specified display. The database previously associated
with the display (if any) is not destroyed. A client or toolkit may find
this function convenient for retaining a database once it is constructed.

Elements separated by vertical bar (|) are alternatives. Curly braces ({...})
indicate zero or more repetitions of the enclosed elements. Square brackets
([...]) indicate that the enclosed element is optional. Quotes ("...") are used
around literal characters.

IncludeFile lines are interpreted by replacing
the line with the contents of the specified file. The word ``include'' must
be in lowercase. The file name is interpreted relative to the directory
of the file in which the line occurs (for example, if the file name contains
no directory or contains a relative directory specification).

If a ResourceName
contains a contiguous sequence of two or more Binding characters, the sequence
will be replaced with single ``.'' character if the sequence contains only ``.''
characters; otherwise, the sequence will be replaced with a single ``*'' character.

A resource database never contains more than one entry for a given ResourceName.
If a resource file contains multiple lines with the same ResourceName,
the last line in the file is used.

Any white space characters before or
after the name or colon in a ResourceSpec are ignored. To allow a Value
to begin with white space, the two-character sequence ``\space'' (backslash followed
by space) is recognized and replaced by a space character, and the two-character
sequence ``\tab'' (backslash followed by horizontal tab) is recognized and replaced
by a horizontal tab character. To allow a Value to contain embedded newline
characters, the two-character sequence ``\n'' is recognized and replaced by a
newline character. To allow a Value to be broken across multiple lines in
a text file, the two-character sequence ``\newline'' (backslash followed by newline)
is recognized and removed from the value. To allow a Value to contain arbitrary
character codes, the four-character sequence ``\nnn'', where each n is a digit
character in the range of ``0''-``7'', is recognized and replaced with a single
byte that contains the octal value specified by the sequence. Finally, the
two-character sequence ``\\'' is recognized and replaced with a single backslash.